ORD → DFW Flight Reliability

Right now

Origin · ORDNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:51 UTC

Chicago airport profile →

Destination · DFWNo disruption reported

Aviation weather is not currently a factor.

Updated 08:53 UTC

Dallas–Fort Worth airport profile →

Route reliability

July 2023 – July 2026

Route Reliability Score

48/ 100Fair

Better than 12% of comparable major US routes (4,598 compared)

Calculated from 20,459 flights. How this is calculated

On-time arrivals

73.0%

14,548 of 19,941

Cancellation rate

1.95%

399 cancelled

Median arrival delay

-5 min

Average 14.1 min

Severe delays

10.9%

60+ minutes late

Delay when late

83 min

Average, when 15+ min late

Flights analyzed

20,459

5 carriers

ORD → DFW arrives on time 73.0% of the time; the return trip, DFW → ORD, arrives on time 72.9% of the time.

ORD → DFW spends 35.8 minutes on the ground on an 802-mile trip: 21.5 minutes from pushback to wheels-up at ORD and 14.2 minutes from touchdown to gate at DFW.

Source: US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics · Data covering July 2023 – July 2026

Why ORD → DFW flights are cancelled

July 2023 – July 2026

ORD → DFW cancelled 399 of 20,459 scheduled flights — about 1 in every 51. The reason filed most often was extreme weather, 76.7% of the cancellations coded on this route — about 1 in every 67 scheduled flights.

Share of cancellations

Weather76.7%

Airline15.5%

Air traffic7.8%

Security0.0%

Of 399 cancelled departures carrying a reason code.

What each reason means

Extreme weather1 in 67

Conditions the carrier judged severe enough to stop the flight: a blizzard, a hurricane, a line of thunderstorms.

306 cancellations, 76.7% of the total.

The airline1 in 330

Crew, maintenance, aircraft cleaning, baggage or fueling: what BTS counts as within the carrier’s own control.

62 cancellations, 15.5% of the total.

The air traffic system1 in 660

Airport capacity, air traffic control flow programs, heavy traffic and ordinary bad weather. A system decision, not the airline’s.

31 cancellations, 7.8% of the total.

Security—

A terminal evacuation, a security breach, screening equipment failure, or screening queues over 29 minutes.

0 cancellations, 0.0% of the total.

Reason codes are the operating airline’s own filing with US DOT, not an independent finding of fault. Ordinary bad weather is filed under air traffic, so weather’s full share is larger than its bar.

399 coded cancellations were recorded on ORD → DFW; the section appears from 50.

When it goes wrong

July 2023 – July 2026

One arrival in ten is worse than

65 min late

against a median of 5 min early

Arrived an hour or more late10.9%

Typical delay when late83 min

Cancelled1.95%

Landed somewhere else0.58%

ORD → DFW has an average that understates its risk: a typical arrival is 5 min early, but the worst tenth are 70 minutes worse than that. If the trip has something unmissable at the end of it, the median is the wrong number to plan against.

Percentiles over 20,459 operations; cancelled and diverted flights are counted separately.

Will your connection be tight enough?

Layovers at DFW after arriving from ORD.

Connection buffer and chance of missing by layover length, ORD → DFW arrivals
Connection time	Chance of missing	Reads as
30 min	41%	Likely to miss
45 min	26%	High risk
60 min	18%	High risk
90 min	11%	Some risk
120 min	6.9%	Some risk

This is one leg of a connection. Gate changes and the next flight's own schedule matter too. And a connection can fail before delay is even the question — this route cancels 1.95% of the time and diverts 0.58% of the time, which a late arrival never shows up in.

Chance of missing is the share of 19,941 arrivals on this route that landed later than the connection time less 30 minutes to reach the next gate.

The worst tenth of arrivals on this route land at least 65 minutes late (90th-percentile gate arrival delay), over 20,459 operations.

Any other layover length: connection checker.

Best time to fly

ORD → DFW flights departing 5–9 AM arrived on time 80.2% of the time, against 63.0% for 9 PM–5 AM departures, a gap of 17.2 percentage points.

By day and hour

On-time arrival rate for each weekday and scheduled departure hour, in local time at the departure airport (ORD).

Hour of departure matters more than day of the week: hourly averages sit a typical 7.1 points from the route-wide rate, weekday averages 2.7 points.

On-time arrival rate for ORD to DFW by weekday and scheduled departure hour, local time. Each button reads out one slot.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM
6 AM–7 AM
7 AM–8 AM
8 AM–9 AM
9 AM–10 AM
10 AM–11 AM
11 AM–12 PM
12 PM–1 PM
1 PM–2 PM
2 PM–3 PM
3 PM–4 PM
4 PM–5 PM
5 PM–6 PM
6 PM–7 PM
7 PM–8 PM
8 PM–9 PM

On-time rate, % · stronger color, fewer on time

50–59
60–69
70–79
80–89
90–99

Fewer than 120 flights, not scored

Source: FlyerIntel analysis of US DOT BTS data · July 2023 – July 2026 · On time is arrival within 15 minutes of schedule. Cells round to whole percentages; the table shows one decimal.

No slot is named best or worst: too few reach 500 flights. Departures before 5 AM and after 9 PM (421 flights) are not drawn: no slot in those hours has enough flights to score.

View as tableHide table

On-time arrival rate (%) with flights beneath, by scheduled departure hour and weekday for ORD to DFW. A dash means fewer than 120 flights, which are not scored.
Hour	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
5 AM–6 AM	86.9% on time184 flights	91.2% on time139 flights	89.7% on time137 flights	90.3% on time170 flights	84.4% on time187 flights	87.4% on time164 flights	82.2% on time185 flights
6 AM–7 AM	76.7% on time197 flights	79.5% on time172 flights	77.5% on time173 flights	85.1% on time197 flights	76.8% on time186 flights	78.7% on time170 flights	71.6% on time186 flights
7 AM–8 AM	79.4% on time269 flights	81.6% on time259 flights	82.0% on time260 flights	85.3% on time257 flights	81.2% on time264 flights	80.4% on time228 flights	79.9% on time233 flights
8 AM–9 AM	76.9% on time232 flights	79.3% on time235 flights	81.3% on time226 flights	75.6% on time230 flights	72.5% on time231 flights	70.5% on time221 flights	72.5% on time241 flights
9 AM–10 AM	82.9% on time124 flights	78.3% on time145 flights	79.2% on time124 flights	76.8% on time127 flights	72.2% on time130 flights	104 flights, too few to score	80.3% on time137 flights
10 AM–11 AM	81.1% on time274 flights	77.8% on time249 flights	79.3% on time248 flights	79.5% on time261 flights	68.2% on time273 flights	75.4% on time248 flights	73.6% on time261 flights
11 AM–12 PM	77.8% on time157 flights	80.4% on time151 flights	76.4% on time148 flights	80.2% on time165 flights	70.4% on time158 flights	76.6% on time144 flights	69.6% on time166 flights
12 PM–1 PM	79.7% on time159 flights	82.9% on time167 flights	78.7% on time165 flights	78.2% on time171 flights	72.2% on time161 flights	70.2% on time142 flights	70.4% on time153 flights
1 PM–2 PM	77.6% on time218 flights	78.7% on time223 flights	78.6% on time222 flights	76.4% on time215 flights	71.0% on time216 flights	72.9% on time204 flights	67.0% on time211 flights
2 PM–3 PM	61 flights, too few to score	54 flights, too few to score	49 flights, too few to score	64 flights, too few to score	58 flights, too few to score	60 flights, too few to score	73 flights, too few to score
3 PM–4 PM	64.2% on time303 flights	76.5% on time283 flights	72.2% on time299 flights	67.6% on time281 flights	66.1% on time295 flights	70.3% on time242 flights	70.8% on time277 flights
4 PM–5 PM	68.8% on time156 flights	68.3% on time143 flights	68.3% on time148 flights	55.7% on time151 flights	59.1% on time165 flights	71.9% on time139 flights	61.5% on time148 flights
5 PM–6 PM	90 flights, too few to score	93 flights, too few to score	96 flights, too few to score	83 flights, too few to score	93 flights, too few to score	86 flights, too few to score	84 flights, too few to score
6 PM–7 PM	62.7% on time189 flights	72.5% on time191 flights	68.6% on time197 flights	64.4% on time194 flights	62.8% on time178 flights	69.2% on time189 flights	60.3% on time204 flights
7 PM–8 PM	58.3% on time136 flights	69.8% on time131 flights	62.5% on time121 flights	57.6% on time147 flights	59.4% on time139 flights	59.5% on time121 flights	53.7% on time126 flights
8 PM–9 PM	65.8% on time212 flights	71.7% on time199 flights	66.8% on time201 flights	64.6% on time202 flights	60.4% on time214 flights	67.9% on time194 flights	57.9% on time225 flights

By departure window

5–9 AM80.2%

9 AM–12 PM76.5%

12–3 PM73.6%

3–6 PM67.2%

6–9 PM64.0%

9 PM–5 AM63.0%

By departure hour

12 AM

3 AM

6 AM

9 AM

12 PM

3 PM

6 PM

9 PM

Why ORD → DFW runs late

July 2023 – July 2026

Late-arriving aircraft44.1%

the inbound aircraft was late, so this flight started late

The airline27.6%

crew, maintenance, boarding and fueling, all within the carrier’s control

Air traffic control22.9%

airspace and airport capacity, including weather-driven flow control

Weather5.2%

weather severe enough to stop this flight specifically

Security0.1%

screening or terminal security incidents

Share of the delay minutes US DOT attributed to each cause for ORD → DFW. Only delays of 15 minutes or more are attributed.

Late-arriving aircraft is the largest cause on ORD → DFW, at 44.1%: flights here mostly leave late because the plane came in late, and the day shows it: 5–9 AM departures arrived on time 80.2% of the time and 9 PM–5 AM departures 63.0%.

How this route holds up in bad weather

July 2023 – July 2026

Bad weather raises cancellations by a similar amount at both ends of ORD to DFW: 5.5 times the normal rate at ORD and 7.0 times at DFW. Cancelled in bad weather against normal hours: ORD 6.5% against 1.2%, DFW 10.4% against 1.5%. Flights that did leave ORD in bad weather arrived on time 55.7% of the time, against 77.1% in normal hours.

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

Scheduled departures, July 2023 – July 2026

Departures from ORD and DFW in hours of bad weather and in normal hours
Departures from	ORD	DFW
Cancelled in bad weather	6.5%	10.4%
Cancelled in normal hours	1.2%	1.5%
Arrived on time, bad weather	55.7%	56.4%
Arrived on time, normal hours	77.1%	74.4%
Departures in bad weather	104,455	72,822

Of the carriers on this route, United Airlines (3.5% cancelled against 7.4% for the other carriers at ORD) cancelled the fewest departures from ORD in bad weather and Envoy Air (8.6% cancelled against 6.9% for the other carriers at ORD) the most.

This route’s airlines in bad weather at ORD

All departures from ORD

Cancellation rates in bad weather at ORD for the airlines that fly ORD to DFW, against the other carriers at ORD in the same months
Airline	Bad-weather departures	Cancelled	Other carriers
United Airlines	31,269	3.5%below the others	7.4%
Frontier Airlines	1,047	6.0%about level	7.5%
American Airlines	17,789	5.4%below the others	6.7%
Spirit Airlines	2,378	4.8%about level	5.5%
Envoy Air	14,228	8.6%above the others	6.9%

These are airport figures, not route figures: every scheduled departure from ORD and DFW, to any destination, in hours the weather report called bad. The airline rows count each carrier’s departures from ORD on every route.

Weather source and limits. In full: ORD (airlines), DFW, What Weather Costs Each Airport, Who Cancels More When the Weather Turns, Airports That Change Places When Weather Turns.

Airlines on this route

Carriers with at least 200 flights, by the airline that operated each one.

Airlines on this route
Carrier	Flights	On time	Cancelled	Median delay	Severe
American Airlines	12,532	72.8%	2.29%	-5 min	11.4%
United Airlines	5,908	76.0%	1.02%	-7 min	9.0%
Frontier Airlines	954	62.4%	3.46%	1 min	16.4%
Spirit Airlines	792	66.6%	1.52%	-2 min	9.9%
Envoy Air	239	66.2%	2.93%	-2 min	16.0%

American Airlines flew 61.4% of the 20,425 flights listed. Frontier Airlines cancelled 3.46% of its flights here against 1.02% for United Airlines.

United Airlines arrived on time 13.6 percentage points more often than Frontier Airlines on this route.

Flights on this route

Flight numbers with at least 600 operations here and still on the schedule.

Flights on this route
Flight	Scheduled	Operations	On time
UA793 United Airlines	3:45 PM	870	73.5%

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

Mon73.5%

Tue77.4%

Wed75.3%

Thu73.5%

Fri69.5%

Sat72.4%

Sun69.3%

Tuesday is historically the most reliable day and Sunday the least, a gap of 8.1 percentage points.

By month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

June is historically the weakest month and October the strongest, a spread of 18.8 percentage points.

Reliability over time

July 2023 – July 2026

24

25

26

Over the most recent 12 months (2025-08 to 2026-07), on-time arrivals averaged 70.4% against 75.0% in the 12 months before — declining by 4.6 percentage points.

Data and methodology

Calculated by FlyerIntel from 20,459 ORD → DFW flight records from the US DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, covering July 2023 – July 2026. Late means 15 or more minutes past scheduled arrival; cancelled and diverted flights are left out of on-time rates.

Full methodology · Data sources · Report a problem

Analysis last recomputed September 26, 2026

ORD airport DFW airport Return direction DFW → ORD

ORD→DFW

Right now

Route reliability

Why ORD → DFW flights are cancelled

Share of cancellations

What each reason means

When it goes wrong

Will your connection be tight enough?

Best time to fly

By day and hour

By departure window

By departure hour

Why ORD → DFW runs late

How this route holds up in bad weather

Bad weather and normal hours at the airports

This route’s airlines in bad weather at ORD

Airlines on this route

Flights on this route

Weekly and seasonal patterns

By day of week

By month

Reliability over time

Data and methodology